Motorsport | Formula 1

Champion Vettel speechless, Schumi proud

Sebastian Vettel was rendered almost speechless after a nailbiting Brazilian Grand Prix, which saw his sixth place finish after an early collision just enough to deny Fernando Alonso the title to complete his own hat-trick.

"This is really special. Right to the end I didn't know if I'd done enough. Trundling along behind the safety car and then dragging over the line was just torture," Vettel gasped after the Red Bull driver won a third straight title at the age of just 25, having finished three points clear of Ferrari's Alonso.

Regarding his opening lap collision which so nearly wrecked his race Vettel said: "I just kept trying to race. We always believed.

"I don't know what more to say – it was a crazy race," Vettel said. "We could hardly have had more obstacles to overcome" after the rain made conditions treacherous.